After his match v. Raonic Federer had this to say about Raonic and Tomic. And Federer's the boss!

Fed was asked to
compare two of the ATP World Tour’s rising stars, Australia’s Bernard Tomic and Milos Raonic of Canada, at the Australian Open on Monday. Federer beat both players en route to the quarter-finals.

“They’re totally different,” said the Swiss. “What I like about Milos is he seems very committed and seems like he has his team set up, travels every week with the same kind of guys. You feel like he's focused on the matches and the practice. The rest is sort of taken care of, which is the good thing, the business side, all the PR. He seems like he's in a good place where he can just really focus on tennis.

“Whereas I think Tomic still needs some time to figure out his team, figure out all the other things that are happening. Obviously Milos has a bit of an advantage because he's been at the top now for some time. This is where it's interesting to see what direction they go, where they practise, who they work with, so forth.

“They are totally different sort of characters it seems like as well. But both tall and strong and obviously with great potential.”

Like Fed's going to speak his mind and say: "Look I am 4 years post-prime and I have whipped this guy 4 consecutive times and today wasn't even close. The guy sucks, he would be better off flipping burgers at Wendy's."

PR and sponsorship deals means Fed is very restricted in what he could, in principle, say.

I'll always watch Dolgo. He's one of my fav. players to watch. He may never win seven matches in a row for a slam but he'll play the top guys tough. I think he's an amazing athlete & talent.

I wouldn't cast aside Raonic just yet. He seems the most intelligent of the lot and might figure something out. Like how to return serve better.

The whole Tomic thing amuses me. People assume that slicing and mixing speeds & junking is "talent". Almost all the guys can play this way but choose not to. It's just strange to see a 6'5" guy do it. You go this way when you don't have weapons.

First tier is Nishikori and Raonic, who have already broken through and have shown they are not just hype. They are hard workers, and it's just a matter of time before these guys are top 10 players. I think Nishikori is a potential slam winner, but I haven't seen that in Raonic yet.

2nd tier would be Tomic and Janowicz. They have had some great wins, but can't seem to string together good performances consistantly yet like Nishikori and Raonic can. Also seems like they haven't really matured mentally yet, and when they do they will be that more lethal. However, it's still unclear if they will ever truly utilize their potential.

3rd tier you have Dimitrov, Harrison and Goffin. They have occasional flashes of brilliance but haven't had any really impressive wins yet. Not as naturally talented as Tomic/Janowicz, it's unclear if they will ever be more than top 20-30 players.

First tier is Nishikori and Raonic, who have already broken through and have shown they are not just hype. They are hard workers, and it's just a matter of time before these guys are top 10 players. I think Nishikori is a potential slam winner, but I haven't seen that in Raonic yet.

2nd tier would be Tomic and Janowicz. They have had some great wins, but can't seem to string together good performances consistantly yet like Nishikori and Raonic can. Also seems like they haven't really matured mentally yet, and when they do they will be that more lethal. However, it's still unclear if they will ever truly utilize their potential.

3rd tier you have Dimitrov, Harrison and Goffin. They have occasional flashes of brilliance but haven't had any really impressive wins yet. Not as naturally talented as Tomic/Janowicz, it's unclear if they will ever be more than top 20-30 players.

4th tier for sure. His paris run is obviously his main claim to fame right now, but so far he seems to be holding his own with his ranking and on his way to validating the hype. We'll see how he does this season.

I'll always watch Dolgo. He's one of my fav. players to watch. He may never win seven matches in a row for a slam but he'll play the top guys tough. I think he's an amazing athlete & talent.

I wouldn't cast aside Raonic just yet. He seems the most intelligent of the lot and might figure something out. Like how to return serve better.

The whole Tomic thing amuses me. People assume that slicing and mixing speeds & junking is "talent". Almost all the guys can play this way but choose not to. It's just strange to see a 6'5" guy do it. You go this way when you don't have weapons.

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mostly agree with all this except the Tomic comments.

did you watch the Federer game? 'no weapons', hmm, I don't think you are seeing the whole picture.

Why the disappointment? Look, to make it big like the famous people of tennis you need to either be gifted or have a ton of experience. Without years of matches under their belts they're stuck with needing to be gifted in the sport. Most aren't... why? It's nature. Out of all the pro tennis players out there 99% of them are better than you and I and 2-3% of them are special enough to be #1-4 in the world for years back to back. That's a huge margin and can only happen so many times. You're not going to have that level of turnover each and every year or each and every decade even. It's rare. It'll happen, but who know at this point who it'll be. Novak finally found his special abilities how many years after turning pro? Just saying... come back down to earth people.

People love to attack Milos Raonic but they do not realize how hard it is to be top 20 in the world! It takes hard work and dedication. Also, very few players beat Federer in slams so no shame in losing to Roger in this one.

Milos also had a fever and foot problems he thought about giving Federer a walkover but chose to play his match.

Being top 20 in the world and the first Canadian to do is impressive. We never had a top 20 player before someone who is not a traitor that fled to England over a decade ago.

This is a USA board but in Canada, Milos Raonic is a star and he is very well respected up here. We like Milos attitude he`s a hard worker and he is going to get to the top 10.

Frankly I think they did well. All of them but Dimitrov and Dolgoplov beated the guy they ought to beat and lost against players against whom it was expected for them to loose.

Nishikori lost to Ferrer, Raonis to Federer in the 4th round.
Janowicz to Almagro, Berankis to Murray, Tomic to Federer in the 3th round.
Goffin lost in 5 set to Verdasco.
Dolgopolov should have beaten Monfils, but it is no shame to lose against him, especially when he serve so well.

First, don't compare them to Federer, or go by their stats against him. Nearly everyone is a disappointment in that regard.

nishikori and raonic are already very highly ranked, so i can't call them disappointments.

I think Nishikori has the most complete game (including mentally) from all of the guys mentioned, but he has had injury issues. We will see him take out top 10 players in 2013 in tournaments, maybe even slams, if he stays healthy. He really doesn't have any weaknesses apart from his injuries. He is very underrated imo, probably because he is japanese and isn't particularly tall.

Dimitrov is the most disappointing considering the hype and expectations; too hollywood. Tomic can be loathsome, but has at least fulfilled some of the expectations on his home turf. He's still far behind his hype though and won't pose much of a challenge to the top ten in matches unless he develops his game, especially mentally. The top 10 are starting to figure him out, he needs to get better quick.

tomic was looking good this year, considering all around games take longer to develop. shame he drew fed in the 3rd. and while the last 6 months have given some hope with janowicz, tomic, and dimitrov, along with more consistent runs from nishikori and raonic, everyone's rate of progression is a little disappointing.

but it's a different game. not saying these guys will be future greats, but we cant expect the same things from young players as we have in the past.

I have not seen much of Nishikori, but in his loss the other day to Ferrer, he hits some of the most impressive angles I've ever seen. It's a testament to Ferrer's tenacity that he hung in there against those type of strokes, he was really being dominated on every point but managed to pull it out.

"Man, I'm 31 almost 32 these guys are 20-22 in or close to their primes yet I beat them like there's no tomorrow. Something is just not right."

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Federer knows how great he is and he would fully expect to beat them. He has carefully planned his scedule and professional life and as a result he plays as if he can still be playing and winning until he decides to quit who knows when. I think he still wants another try at an Olympic singles Gold. Then he'll quit.